Baltimore Building of the Week: Equitable Bank Building

This week’s Baltimore Building of the Week is our first introduction to Baltimore’s tremendous historic skyscrapers, such as the 1891 Equitable Bank Building that survived the Great Baltimore Fire,

Image courtesy Jack Breihan

Another uniquely American style of the late 19th century originated in Chicago, where Louis Sullivan gave the new steel-framed “skyscrapers” unified facades of multistory arches. The former headquarters of Equitable Bank (shown here before exterior restoration) is Baltimore’s best version of the Sullivan/skyscraper style. Designed by Joseph Evans Sperry in 1891, it was gutted in the Great Baltimore Fire, but the frame and façade survived. After nearly a century’s service as an office building, it has been converted to residential use.

2 comments

  1. John Pratt says:

    I was interested in finding out more about one of Equitable Trust Company’s early Chairmen Jacob France. If you have any biographical info on Mr. France it would greatly be appreciated. Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter. I am doing a bit of historical research on Mr. France for Baltimore City College.

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